The Challenge
by Ravyn Starkweather
Summary: A collection of challenge fics. Challenged by Shadow Starkweather. An interesting read! Please read and review.
1. Protection: Challenge One

This series is a challenge between myself and my brother, Shadow Starkweather. We each give eachother a list of requirements and we have 30 minutes to write a story that includes all of them. The hard part is...It has to make sense. And, as crazy as Shadow and I are, these aren't exactly _easy_. He's writing Final Fantasy VIII Challenges and I'm writing CSI Challenges for the time being. Go check his out. Give this a try, it's great. Now...onward...

Protection

Requirements:

Someone has to get caught masturbating

Someone has to get beat up

Grissom has to kiss somebody

Someone has to throw up

There has to be a murder

It must be revealed that someone on the CSI team used to be a porn star

And now on with the story…

"My God…" Catherine said, looking at the box Greg had just pulled from under the bed.

"What's wrong??"

"N-Nothing…" She replied slowly, "Why don't you go process the dining room, and I'll take care of this."

Greg's eyes lowered to the contents of the overflowing box. He laughed lightly.

"And miss all this??" He said, "Not on your life, Cath."

"But I really think—"

"What's with you anyway??" He asked, looking back up at her. "You've been acting weird ever since we got the case for this guy."

"I'm sorry, I just…I guess it's all the stuff with Lindsey and I haven't been sleeping well, and…I guess it's just catching up with me."

"Well, just take it easy, okay??"

He started sorting through the tapes of pornography, looking for a clue, any clue, as to who murdered the owner of them.

"These look amateur." He deduced, "Maybe the star of one of them didn't want it getting out??"

"That's one theory."

"Yea, but, as Grissom says, we shouldn't jump to conclusions yet. I mean, we knew this guy was sleazy, but…What the Hell?!"

He lifted a tape, revealing a scantily clad redhead lying on a pink bed, beckoning to the camera.

"Kinky Kathy?!" He screeched, looking up at the redhead beside him as she closed her eyes.

"Look, Greg. I needed the money, okay?? Dancing's one thing, I'm not ashamed of that, but…This is something different. I just…I never wanted anyone to know."

"Did you know this guy, Catherine??" Greg asked referring to the DB that had been found only hours before, shot between the eyes in his dining room.

"He's the producer."

"This is a clear conflict of interest." Greg said, falling back upon his training, "Grissom would have a fit…I can't hide evidence for you, Cath."

"I know, Greg."

With that, Catherine left the room.

When no one knew where she slipped off to, Nick was called in to take her place.

Instead of being shocked by the tape, Nick was oddly silent and brooding, as though his world had been shaken.

"I knew she danced, but…" He got quiet.

"I know…" Greg said, "And she slipped out because she was so ashamed. What if Warrick finds out, man??"

"Well, he's gonna. He's out interrogating with Curtis right now. He's on the case, Greggo...The best thing she could do right now is to tell him herself."

"Yea…I mean, put yourself in Warrick's position…What would you do if you found out _your_ girlfriend used to be a porn star."

Nick chuckled slightly.

"I dunno, man…Especially with how protective Warrick is of her…Everywhere they go, ya know?? He's already threatened guys for just checking her out when they go out together."

"Well, he loves her, ya know??"

"Yea, but…He's all confrontational when he's with her…"

"Hey, love makes us crazy, doesn't it??" Greg pondered aloud, thinking of Sara.

Sara was in a strange relationship of her own.

Grissom would bring her into his office under the false ruse of new evidence or reprimanding and the second they were out of everyone's sight, they claimed each other's mouth in the name of forbidden love.

Nothing was the same back at the lab these days.

Greg decided to do Catherine a favor and pocket the tape, so no one in the lab would find out about Catherine's past.

That night, his curiosity got the better of him and he popped the tape into his bedroom VCR to find Catherine writhing on the bed with a no-named man.

All the close-ups were on Catherine.

And why wouldn't they be??

She's was stunning…

She was sexy…

She was…

Without quite realizing it, Greg's hand slid down the waistband of his pajama pants.

Within minutes, the pants were off and he sat, pleasuring himself while watching a younger Catherine have the time of her life…

…Or what appeared to be the time of her life.

Suddenly, someone appeared in the doorway and Greg froze as he remembered the key his ex-roommate still had.

"What the _Hell, Greg?!"_ he heard Warrick yell.

He grabbed Greg by the collar of his shirt and threw him against the wall.

A brisk look at the television coaxed a punch in the stomach.

Greg's dinner came up easily, all over the front of his shirt.

At least that made Warrick let go of him.

"What the Hell are you doing here??" He choked out through retches.

"I know everything, Greg. I can't _believe_ you're sitting here…looking at _my_ Catherine…"

His rage seemed to be building again.

"How did you know??" Greg asked, hoping to distract him with questions, so his anger didn't come out physically again.

Nick was right.

Warrick Brown _was_ a different person when it came to Catherine Willows.

"The vic's name was Donnie Jackson." He said, as if it was supposed to mean something.

"So??" Greg asked, gathering himself up from the floor and struggling his pajama pants back over his hips.

He switched off the television and Warrick smirked.

"DJ didn't just dabble in porn, Greg. Guess what else he specialized in."

"Gambling…" Greg said.

Warrick's old addiction.

"Bingo. Anything that goes on in that world, I know. Just like I knew that DJ was about to go public with his stash of porn."

"Warrick, you didn't…"

"Do you know what that would've done to Lindsey?? To the lab?? To Cat?? I couldn't let that happen."

"What'd you do??" Greg asked, afraid of the answer.

Warrick raised the hem of his shirt to reveal a revolver tucked in the waistband of his jeans.

"What I had to."


	2. Nights: Challenge Two

Nights

Requirements:

Grissom has to be a rape victim

Someone has to "go to the bathroom" in their pants

A plane has to be involved somehow

Greg has to propose to Sara

Catherine has to have dinner with Warrick

Brass has to do some cocaine

Nick has to push Doc Robbins

And now on with the story…

::GRISSOM::

The night was winding down and the fireplace wasn't enough to calm him down tonight. The case was terrible, and he couldn't even sleep because he couldn't get it off his mind.

A little boy…molested…

Just like he had been all those years ago.

His 'uncle'…Or at least that's what his mother said he was.

When he finally told his mother was Uncle Joe had been up to, she screamed and cried and screamed some more. He thought it was his fault.

The night he told her, he dreamt of Uncle Joe again, waking up with soiled pants.

Though he was only a child, he was too embarrassed to tell his mother, especially after what had happened the night before.

He remembered hiding his wet underwear under his bed and putting on a fresh pair in an attempt to save face.

He had gone to Doc Robbins and saw the molested boy's body.

He reminded him so much of himself, only his name wasn't Gil.

It was Aaron. Aaron Gregory.

But to everyone in the lab, he was just another victim.

Is that what Grissom was??

Just a victim??

He sighed and shook his head, trying to extinguish the insistent exhaustion that was creeping in on him.

He didn't want to fall asleep, for fear that Uncle Joe was waiting for him in his subconscious, hiding behind his eyelids.

He shook his head once again and dreaded going back to work tomorrow.

::BROWN::

The plane was so crowded.

She couldn't believe this was happening all over again.

When she married Warrick, she thought it was for good.

This wasn't the first time she rushed into a marriage, but she thought it was going to work.

Then again, she did last time, too.

She always ended up going back to Phil…No matter _how_ good a relationship seemed to be, it always ended up with her in Phil's arms.

Maybe the divorce was a good thing.

Her cell phone rang and she flipped it open and pressed it to her ear.

"Tina??"

That's all he had to say.

"I know, Phil…" She said, plugging her other ear against the persistent sobbing of a baby in the next row. "I'm on my way."

She hung up and sighed.

She wondered what Warrick was doing at that moment.

::WILLOWS AND BROWN::

This was just too much.

Her fantasy was playing out in front of her.

Warrick sat across from her, sipping a glass of wine, looking majestic in the flicker of the candle in the middle of the table.

Their eyes met and he looked at her like she was the only woman on earth.

"Are you okay??" She asked.

She felt it was the right thing to say.

"I'm great, Cath." He said back to her with a smirk, "It was an infatuation. All I had to do was realize something."

Catherine cocked her head, not understanding what he was getting at.

"Realized what??" She asked, after swallowing her sip of red wine.

"It's always been you." He replied, flashing her the smile that she woke up for.

He gently grabbed her hand from the table and planted a kiss on it.

Her fantasy was playing out in front of her.

This was just too much.

::BRASS::

The apartment wasn't much to look at.

According to the mirror, neither was he.

It lay on the table, enticing him with the thin line of white powder.

He could remember the short road that led him here.

He didn't _want_ to blame it on Ellie, but it _was_ the cocaine that he had stolen from her apartment that started it all. One night, in a moment of weakness and curiosity, he tried it.

It took away the loneliness of the divorce and the pain of a loveless daughter.

It worked better than the drinking did.

Now, he rolled up a dollar bill and snorted it in a familiar motion.

He sniffed vigorously as he raised his head from the mirror.

He sighed.

A couple more lines and he wouldn't miss her at all.

::STOKES::

Night shift was the worst.

Lethargy was creeping up on him and he was ready to give into it.

He thought of his bed back at the apartment and wiped his eyes.

Just a few more hours.

He just needed to find the actual cause of death of Aaron Gregory and he would allow himself to take a break.

Maybe the break would only be a quick cup of coffee in the lounge, but it would be welcome nonetheless.

He pushed open the door.

"Robbins, I need the COD for Aaron Gregory."

The doctor didn't look up from the middle-aged woman, looking severely beaten as well as deceased, lying on the table in front of him.

"Robbins, I said I need—"

"I heard you, Stokes. I've got a bus accident. I'm trying to clear the tables as quick as I can, okay??" Nick could hear the aggravation in Al's voice.

"Look, Doc," He said, trying to use his award-winning people skills, "Aaron's been on your slab since this morning and this accident didn't happen until early this evening."

"What I do in this room is _my_ work, Nick. Do you understand that??"

"Yea, I understand, but don't you think a raped, murdered _child_ takes precedence over a bus accident."

"Nothing takes precedence in here. Death is death, Nick."

"Well, Aaron died first. Why can't you just give me the COD so I can just get outta your hair??"

"Because you don't know what stress I'm under to clear the slabs!"

"Well you don't know the stress I'm under to get that damn COD, and I'm relying on you completely."

Al turned from his table and limped over to Nick, standing tall the entire time.

"Get away from me." Nick said, his rarely seen anger taking advantage of his tired state.

He pushed the doctor when he refused to back down, immediately feeling awful for pushing a man with only one good leg.

He left the room without a word.

He and Al both needed time to cool off.

This was going to be a long night.

::SANDERS AND SIDLE::

Sara thought today was going to be just another day.

She couldn't take her eyes off the ring in front of her.

Everything seemed to be going in slow motion.

"Will you marry me, Sara??" He asked.

She looked into his eyes.

He loved her.

She knew he did.

But, truth be told, she only settled for him when it was clear that Grissom couldn't open himself up to anyone…Though no one knew why.

When she closed her eyes and kissed him, she thought of Grissom's rare smile and intelligence.

She wondered if she could spend the rest of their lives picturing her husband as someone he wasn't.

She had been praised for her imagination for as long as she could remember.

"Yes." She said through a smile, "Yes, I will marry you."

He slid the ring on her finger and claimed her mouth in a smothering kiss.

Sara wondered what Grissom was doing at that moment.


	3. Follow Your Heart: Challenge Three

Follow Your Heart

Requirements:

The word "Nutsack" must be said three times

Something happens at an amusement park

Brass has to push Nick up against a wall

Greg has to tell Warrick a secret

A reference to a bar fight is made

Grissom eats lunch with Catherine and puts moves on her

A reference to prostitution is made

Warrick sees Sara naked

"Do you care to explain this to us??" Brass asked, trying not to let the humor of the situation get the better of his demeanor.

"What's to explain??" The blonde in front of him asked, "I stabbed him."

"Do you know _where_ you stabbed him??" Nick asked, sitting next to Brass at the interrogation table.

"Yea, I stabbed him in his nutsack."

Brass laughed lightly and briefly at the bluntness of her words.

"Why??" Nick asked, repressing a smile himself.

"He cheated on me."

"So you waited until you got to the amusement park, then you stabbed him??"

"Well, not exactly."

"Walk us through it, please." Brass coaxed.

"Well, he cheated on me a couple months ago and…we've been going through therapy. The whole thing gets brought up all over again for me when he looks at another woman."

"And there were a lot of women there, weren't there, Heidi??"

"Yea…" She said, putting her head down, "And this one looked just like that…that _bitch_ that he cheated on me with, so I stabbed him. Right in the nutsack."

"Where were you??" Nick asked, trying to ignore the repetition of the word 'nutsack'.

"Well, we were behind the little place where we had lunch, she walked by, I pushed him up against the wall, and stabbed him."

"Well, the trajectory's off, ma'am…" Nick said, looking at photos.

"What's that??"

"Care to assist me, Nick??" Brass asked, standing.

"Not at all." Nick said, joining him.

"So, you're pissed off right??" Brass rhetorically asked Heidi, "He looks at her, you go nuts…Pardon the expression."

Nick laughed.

"You pushed him up against the wall."

Brass pushed Nick against the wall to illustrate his point.

"Then what??"

"I reached down and stabbed him…Simple as that."

"Ma'am, what we're trying to—"

"I used to turn tricks, alright??" Heidi started, "No one's better than me. The fact that he went elsewhere for it…I can't deal with it."

"Is that why we found… "The Bitch's" body in a Dumpster in the alley behind her house??" Brass asked.

Stokes sat down, as the Captain did.

"I was at a bar." Heidi stated, "I saw her there and broke my glass against her head."

"What happened then??" Nick asked, looking at pictures of the mistress's skull and realizing that the cranial fractures made sense.

"I got kicked out…I dunno how she died."

It was obvious that the ex-prostitute was lying.

It wouldn't take much to convince the jury, especially with the forensics that Greg was having processed down the hall.

The skin from under the mistress's nails were a match to Heidi.

Greg turned from the lab and walked down the hall to find Nick and Brass.

"Greggo!" He heard behind him.

"Yea, Warrick??" Greg stopped and turned to see his friend.

"I got a problem…"

"What is it, I'm kinda in a hurry, War…" Greg said, trying to make time for his friend.

"I saw Sara naked last night…"

"You what?!"

"Yea, I mean, it was an accident…She was in the locker room. She had been around a decomp all day with Doc Robbins, and I she was changing out of, well…_everything_ so that the smell wouldn't follow her home any more than usual. She thought the door was locked and…"

"It wasn't."

"No…But now I'm scared that things will be awkward between us."

"Let me tell you a secret, War…" Greg said as they stepped into the lounge.

"Shoot." 

"I saw her when we were in the body builder's house…Remember?? The mold from the hooker he shot?? The team came in and we had to take a shower because we could've been infected or…or something."

"Yea??"

"Yea…I told her I didn't see anything, but um, I saw _everything_, War. And it was that moment that I knew I loved everything about her."

"You mean, you…and Sara??"

"Pshh, I wish. She'd never give me the time of day."

"Well, you never know until you—"

"Guys, problem…" Catherine interrupted, walking into the lounge.

"How'd lunch with Grissom go??" Warrick asked.

"Well, I got the promotion…" She said, referring to the supervising position she had had her eye on, "And I also got an invitation to his house tonight."

"What?!" Greg asked, suddenly forgetting about his own problems, "You mean, you have to like…sleep with him to get the job?!" He asked, whispering fiercely.

"No, nothing like that…" Catherine said, pouring herself a cup of coffee. "He told me that Sara told him that if you don't try to grab onto what you want, pretty soon, it'll be gone…So he said I'm the one he wants and he's trying to make it work."

"That's actually sweet, Cath…"

"What're you gonna do??"

"I dunno..." Catherine confessed, taking a sip, "I can't deny that I have feelings for him. Maybe Sara's right…You should follow your heart on situations like this…I'm gonna do it."

"Hmmm…" Warrick said, looking at Greg with a smirk, "You should follow your heart, shouldn't you, Greggo??" He asked.

Greg nodded, knowing exactly what Warrick meant.

"I'll be right back." He said, walking out of the lounge.

Sara should be in Doc Robbin's right about now…


	4. Problems: Challenge Four

Problems

Body parts must be found in a backyard

Grissom must fight someone

Hodges must go out into the field

Greg must admit to having homosexual feelings for Grissom

Nick must have a sex change

Sara must have a "Single White Female" thing for Catherine

Grissom stuck his head into the lab.

"Hodges." He said, making the blue-eyed lab rat look up from his microscope.

"Y-yea??" He asked, moving towards the door.

"Look," The supervisor started, "Nicky's still on leave. I'm a man short. How do you feel about fieldwork??"

"Wow…Really??"

"Yea, if you get a kit and hurry up. Catherine and Sara are already down there. They'll help you out."

"Willows and Sidle can't handle it on their own??"

"No, you'll know why when you get there."

"Where??"

"Just follow Brass."

With that, Grissom retreated from the lab and went back to his office.

Hodges arrived on the scene about half an hour later, with an irritated captain.

"Stop asking questions and get over there." Brass said, finally giving Hodges a final push, "I've got neighbors to talk to…"

The lab rat watched Brass walk away, still unsure of where to go.

"Hodges??" He heard Sara's voice and turned around quickly, trying to extinguish his nervousness with his usual dryly humorous demeanor.

"Yea, S—Woah, did you do something to your hair??"

"Yea, died it and had it curled. Thought I'd go for something different…Anyway, the problem's the backyard."

She led him into the backyard, where six or seven men assisted Catherine in digging up the remains of several body parts.

"My God…" Hodges said. He never saw any part of remains unless it was small pieces brought in for him to analyze. This is completely new.

He could handle it, but it was hard for him to imagine these women doing this every day.

"Hey, Hodges. I guess you're the one Grissom was looking for. Well, grab a shovel…" Catherine said, pulling her sunglasses down to shield herself from the persistent sun.

That's when Hodges realized where he'd seen Sara's haircut before. It was exactly like Catherine's.

"Probably just a coincidence…" He thought to himself as he grabbed a shovel and got down to work.

"Griss, can I talk to you??"

Grissom heard the words. They were muffled, but he could still hear them. He looked up to see Greg standing awkwardly at the door of his office.

"Make it quick, Sanders, I'm kinda busy." He pushed away the files in front of him, removed his glasses, and put them down on the desk.

"Okay…It won't take but a minute…" Greg stepped across the threshold, closed the door, and sat down across from his supervisor.

"Go ahead, Greg…" Grissom said, already eager to get back to the cell phone records that he was previously analyzing.

"Grissom, well…Okay. I've always looked up to you, right??"

"I suppose so…"

"Well, I realized that it may be a bit more that just…respect I feel for you."

Grissom cocked his head in the way he always did when he was a bit perplexed. He looked at him sideways, waiting for him to continue, but almost wishing that he wouldn't.

"I think I…ya know, _like_ you Grissom." He said.

Grissom was physically shaken by the words.

"No, Greg. I don't think so." He said, standing and crossing the room to open the door and let the young blonde back out.

"Well, I do." Sanders replied, standing and walking over to the door himself.

They stood there awkwardly, Gil not wanting to make a move that could be misinterpreted.

He saw Greg when he had a thing for Sara Sidle.

Any move could be misinterpreted as reciprocity.

He didn't want that.

That's when he felt the younger man's hands on his face and the thin lips pressed against his.

Reacting purely on instinct, the supervisor pulled back and hit the former lab rat with a punch in the jaw.

Grissom had thought these old habits were behind him, but…

I guess one never really gets over things like that, do they??

Greg stood, nodded and left the room, leaving Grissom to ponder more than just cell phone records.

Sara sat in her living room, unwinding from the shocking day that had just befallen her.

She couldn't get the images of those body parts out of her mind…

…Until she thought of Catherine.

Catherine was beautiful, intelligent, street-smart, responsible, and experienced.

She was everything that Sara had ever hoped to be.

There was a knock at the door.

She rose quickly, thinking it might be her self-appointed redheaded mentor and rushed to the door.

Warrick stood there with panic etched into his face.

"Nicky's a chick…" He said, breathless.

Apparently, he didn't wait for the elevator and instead ran all the flights up to Sara's apartment.

"What??" Sara asked.

"That's why he's taken all this leave…He had a _sex change_, Sara. I'm supposed to be his best friend and he didn't even tell me."

"Why'd he do that?!" Sara asked, turned over a picture frame containing a picture of her in front of a casino…

…With Catherine's face pasted over hers.

"I dunno, ask _Nicole_." He said, obviously bitter.

"How'd you find out??"

"He called. He wants us to go see him down in the hospital…"

"Are you serious??" Sara asked, wide-eyed.

"Yea, come on. Let's go." He coaxed.

"Let me get my coat." Sara said, turning her back on the ebony Adonis in her doorway.

She suppressed a smile.

_Catherine might be there…_


End file.
